Your voice. It matters. It needs to be heard. Because it makes a difference in our world.
You want to be seen in all your brilliant light.
I just came out of three days at our BRAVE retreat, helping a room full of emerging experts find clarity in their voice – what they stand for. I was so proud of each one of them , as they gave voice to how they matter in a way that connects to the very people they are helping in their work.
They walked away with a new way to share their story. To be succinct in the messages with memorable soundbites that is unique to each one of them.
It jazzed me to see their messages take shape… in ways that were heartfelt… in ways that were truly aligned to who each person is… It was like the message flowed from their soul.
And then I remembered.
***
Years ago, back in my old corporate days, on a sunny Spring Day on my mountain deck, the seeds of an idea were planted. It was an initiative called Expert Source… a program to make a name for the many resource-full thought leaders in our organization. To get their voices heard on the stage, in the media and in our multiple vertical industries we served.
And lucky for me, these seeds were directly aligned to our company’s strategic growth plans. What sprouted from those seeds planted that day on my deck was a multi-million dollar investment in this initiative and over 100 experts going through a year-long training program that I got to develop and lead, in partnership with a leading public relations / marketing partner.
The Expert Source program taught our company’s experts how to succinctly message the voice they wanted to share with the world and the opinions they would stand for. It taught them how to build an outreach plan to the media and their circle of influence that got them heard, in the places they needed to be heard. Essentially, the messages that they developed became part of their legacy they would leave in their industry.
And today, all these years later, I still hear from some of those Expert Source men and women, who reach out and tell me just how important the Expert Source program was to them personally. It changed how they were seen. It changed how they were heard. And in fact, it helped shape the industry that they were in.
This program raised the presence of all of our leading experts in their field of knowledge… and they were covered in media around the world… And I’m talking about significant exposure. We grew our thought leadership media impressions from a baseline of 36 million to over 5 billion in that first year. Our experts were featured in the Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, key industry publications and all of the national television stations, just to name just a few.
This was my favorite initiative that I led in all of my 20 years of leading marketing and strategy in the corporate world. The methodology that we developed to help our experts get known has been stored away on a computer these past several years, as I have been helping people find their passion and purpose.
Until recently, when I pulled it all back out again.
You see – I had this epiphany. I saw the connection between what I did all those years ago, and what my clients want more of in their lives:
Visibility. Voice. Impact.
And I knew the teachings we had developed in the Expert Source program were directly applicable to what these women were wanting to achieve in the world.
But there’s more. Because the work that I do today – helping women connect to who they are and how they’re meant to matter – takes the Expert Source teachings to a whole new level.
This old thread from the past, wove beautifully into the fabric of my work today in a soulful, passion-filled, “I want to make a difference way.”
My clients have done the deep introspective work to know who they are at their very essence. They know their purpose and how they’re meant to matter. And when they wove this into the powerful Expert Source teachings – clarity came. Sparks happened.
And for me – I had a huge ah ha. I need to share these teaching with entrepreneurs and execs who want to get their voice heard more in the world. And so I will be launching a new program in the coming months – the Emerging Expert Academy.
I’m mapping the Emerging Expert Academy, as you read this. Combining the best-of-the-best threads to create a journey of clarity, voice, message and outreach. Because at the end of the day, I am all about creating ripple effects in the world. Helping others carry out their passions and their purpose.
I know so many wildly successful entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs and truth seekers whose voice needs to be shared in bigger and grander scales. I’m so excited about all that is blossoming before us – in making it happen! If you want to know more as this program launches, visit the Emerging Expert Academy page, and put your name on the list to receive information as I launch!
To close today, I stop in introspection. The lesson I learned in this unfolding, is never forget the things from your past that lit you up the most. There are threads you might want to pull forward into your today.
So take a moment today and consider what pieces of your journey are perhaps tucked away in your memory or on a hard drive somewhere. Do they want to come forward into your life with you today? Invite them in.
Much love
